The bigots’ case against Marvin Harrison Jr. boils down to whether the Binding Term Sheet is a binding contract.

We love that Marvin Harrison Jr. marches to the beat of his own drum. There are limits to Harrison doing things his way, however.

Such a set of limitations potentially arises from contractual commitments he has already made.

Accounts of conflict between Harrison and Fanatics emerged after the draft, sparked by Harrison’s failure to sign the NFLPA licensing agreement that would allow Fanatics to sell his Cardinals jersey. It came to a head this weekend, with Harrison I’m not going to the NFLPA Rookie Premiere and, more importantly, Fanatics sue Harrison for breach of contract.

After news of the lawsuit surfaced, sports attorney Darren Heitner posted on his website a copy of the complaint filed in the Supreme Court of New York for the County of New York. The version of the complaint released by Heitner has numerous redactions that, frankly, seem random at times. It is therefore difficult to carry out a complete analysis of the complaint.

Inevitably, an unredacted copy of the complaint will appear. After all, these documents are filed in open court and can be viewed by the public.

For now, here are our efforts to make sense of the information in the redacted complaint.

The lawsuit alleges that in May 2023, Harrison “entered into a fully binding and enforceable contract to provide certain things to Fanatics.” These things are all redacted. The same goes for information about what Harrison would get in return.

The lawsuit also claims that Harrison “recently and publicly claimed that his binding agreement with Fanatics did not exist and that he has refused to fulfill any of his obligations thereunder.”

Fanatics claims the deal “was reached after extensive negotiations,” which took place with the assistance and representation of his father, Hall of Fame catcher Marvin Harrison Sr.

The complaint says there is a “binding term sheet.” The complaint includes four bullet points regarding its contents. All information is redacted.

The problem arose from Harrison Jr.’s alleged assertion that no agreement exists. He allegedly told Fanatics that he had received offers from other trading card companies and asked Fanatics to meet or exceed the offers.

Here is the key paragraph that talks about the failure to sign the NFLPA licensing agreement: “Harrison Jr. even attempted to exploit Fanatics by refusing to cooperate with Fanatics’ business partners. »

The case focuses on Fanatics’ autographed trading card business. Fanatics repeatedly boasts of the success of this aspect of its broader operations before asserting that “no athlete – other than Harrison Jr. – has ever repudiated their agreement with Fanatics”, that “no athlete never risked hurting fans to try to profit from their deal with Fanatics.” more money from Fanatics – other than Harrison Jr.”, and that “despite years of contracts with hundreds of top athletes, Fanatics has never had to go to court to enforce its rights against an athlete “.

The issue reportedly arose just before the 2024 draft. Harrison Sr. reportedly requested a copy of the “binding term sheet.” Fanatics provided it. Harrison Sr. reportedly responded by saying “‘we’ don’t have a deal with Fanatics.”

The lawsuit also claims that Harrison’s camp disclosed its location to Pat McAfee; specifically, Harrison never had a trading card deal with Fanatics. McAfee later shared the information on his ESPN show and Harrison Jr. reposted the clip on X.

“All of this was an attempt to mislead the public,” Fanatics claims in the lawsuit. “Harrison Jr. has accepted Fanatics’ offer – he has concluded and signed the binding term sheet.”

Although the corresponding portion of the complaint published by Heitner appears to have been redacted, ESPN.com article on the situation explains that the lawsuit claims that “Harrison sells signed memorabilia on the Official Harrison Collection website,” with signed photos for $99.99 to $149, a signed jersey for $299.99 and a signed helmet for up to ‘at $549.99. The website also reportedly states that “Cardinals memorabilia (coming) soon” and that it is the “ONLY website to purchase signed Harrison memorabilia.”

The lawsuit contains four counts: (1) breach of Fanatics contract; (2) early repudiation of the Fanatics Agreement; (3) tortious interference with Fanatics’ contract by breaching the agreement through Harrison Collection; and (4) declaratory judgment.

Fanatics is seeking an award of compensatory damages, punitive damages (which are available in a tort interference claim), a declaration that the “enforceable term sheet” is a binding and enforceable contract, and an order of court requiring Harrison Jr. to comply with the contract. .

Here are some other thoughts on the subject, beyond the content of the complaint.

First, much of the case will come down to whether the binding Term Sheet constitutes a valid and enforceable contract. Harrison Jr. will apparently argue that the binding term sheet is not good enough to create a binding contract. However, if the binding term sheet contains all the important terms of a contract, this does not matter if the “term sheet” has not been followed by a complete contract.

The fact that both parties have respected the terms of the binding Term Sheet as written, for almost a year, should (or at least could) strengthen the argument. This tends to show that both parties believed the contract existed and acted accordingly.

Second, it is odd that Harrison Jr. is the named defendant in the tortious interference complaint. If a breach occurs in circumstances like this, one party to the contract commits it – and an outside party causes it. The Official Harrison Collection LLC appears to be the most appropriate defendant for a tort interference claim.

Harrison Sr. would also be a potential defendant for tortious interference, if Fanatics decides to amend the complaint and blame Harrison Sr. for the violation. (Given his involvement in managing his son’s business affairs, it hardly seems a stretch to think that Harrison Jr. walked away from the supposed deal with Fanatics under Harrison Sr.’s leadership.

Many cases are resolved. It’s not ideal for Fanatics to sue a player who will become a prominent member of the biggest sport Fanatics does business with. Surely fanatics would not do this if they were not very attached to their position.

We will follow all developments. Hopefully he has access to documents that aren’t redacted to exclude content that doesn’t seem confidential or controversial.